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Martyr
Excerpt from the Lexham Bible
Dictionary, the most
advanced Bible dictionary.
A person who suffers death for his or her faith or convictions.
Martyr, Martyrdom
MARTYR, MARTYRDOM. In dealing with the phenomenon of martyrdom in the ancient Western world one immediately comes up against a complex of definitional problems (see also SUICIDE). Simply put, martyrdom refers to the act of choosing death rather than renouncing one’s religious principles. Death then is
Martyr
Martyr [Gk. mártys—‘witness’] (Rev. 17:6). The word appears in the AV also in Acts 22:20 and Rev. 2:13, where the RSV translates “witness,” the primary sense of mártys. In its developed ecclesiastical usage, found indisputably for the first time in the late 2nd cent. a.d. (MPolyc 17:3; cf. Eusebius
Martyr
martyr (GK. martys), typically, a person who dies as a result of faith and/or allegiance to God or Christ. In a broad sense, the Greek word martys simply means “witness” and may refer to any who testify to their faith (e.g., in word and deed, in life as well as in death), but the English word “martyr”
Martyr
MARTYR. In the KJV the word occurs only in Acts 22:20; Rev 2:13; 17:6. The Gr. word martus, from which the English word “martyr” comes, is usually translated “witness” in KJV. A witness, in this sense, is one who bears record or testifies. This is the literal meaning. In Acts 22:20 and Rev 2:13, ASV
Martyr
MartyrA word transliterated from Gk. mártys, martýrion, martyrɩ́a, “witness, testimony.” The word originally referred to one who was a legal witness but came to refer to one whose testimony for Jesus ends in death (i.e., martyrdom). The word is used frequently in Acts to refer to the apostles as witnesses
martyr
martyr (Gk. μάρτυς, ‘witness’). The term was originally used of the Apostles as witnesses of Christ’s life and resurrection (e.g. Acts 1:8, 1:22), but with the spread of *persecution it was reserved to those who had undergone hardships for the faith, and finally it was restricted to those who had suffered
Martyr
MARTYR (Gk. martus, so rendered only in KJV, Acts 22:20; Rev. 2:13; 17:6; and in the NIV only in Acts 22:20). A witness (which see), and generally so given. The meaning of the word martyr, which has now become the most usual, is one who has proved the strength and genuineness of his faith in Christ by
Martyr
Martyr—one who bears witness of the truth, and suffers death in the cause of Christ (Acts 22:20; Rev. 2:13; 17:6). In this sense Stephen was the first martyr. The Greek word so rendered in all other cases is translated “witness.” (1.) In a court of justice (Matt. 18:16; 26:65; Acts 6:13; 7:58; Heb. 10:28;
Martyr
Martyrmartyr (Gk. martys), a technical term in second-century Christianity for those who showed allegiance to Christ by their death. In the nt, the death of Stephen (Acts 22:20) and references to Christians who suffered death (Rev. 2:13; 17:6) carry some of the nuances of this later meaning. The earlier
Martyr
MARTYR — a witness. Because the early Christians frequently suffered for their faith, the word “martyr” soon came to refer to people who suffered or died because of their witness to Christ. Thus the apostle Paul calls Stephen a martyr (Acts 22:20), and the Book of Revelation mentions “the martyrs of